Ousted Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez left the country early Sunday for political asylum in Brazil on a Brazilian Air Force plane, television reported.

Gutierrez left the Brazilian ambassador's residence at about 4:15 am (0915 GMT) through a side entrance and was escorted to a base at the international airport by heavily armed police, the report said.

Gutierrez, a former army colonel elected president in 2002, had holed up in the Brazilian ambassador's residence since Congress ended his presidency Wednesday amid mass protests which left three people dead and tens of others injured in capital Quito.

Angry demonstrators had surrounded the Brazilian Embassy for days and demanded Gutierrez be captured and brought to trial.

Ecuador's Congress sacked Gutierrez for dereliction of duty and appointed Vice President Alfredo Palacio as new president.

Gutierrez was accused by political rivals of attempting to amass power by replacing Ecuador's Supreme Court. Brazil offered to grant asylum to the deposed president on Thursday.

Source: Xinhua